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 Replies: 17 / Views: 2,692 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1388 Posts |
I am an upperclassman in high school, and I've been collecting Morgan dollars ever since I was in seventh grade or so. For the last few years, my dad and I would go to my LCS and pick through their "junk Morgan" bin to fill the Dansco albums that my parents bought me. We always took care to find the "shiny" ones, and up until now had purchased about thirty of these. I got back into collecting after the fall sports at my HS wrapped up, and I came to the horrible realization that most of the Morgans currently residing in my Danscos are harshly cleaned and/or polished. I would say that out of the ~35 that I have, probably 20 are cleaned. The "shiny" ones we looked for are the worst. My question to you guys is this: what do you recommend me doing with my Morgans from here on? Should I keep the less-bad cleaned ones or should I sell the all of them for the silver value when that hikes up? I plan on only buying good ones in the future. Sorry if that was rather rambly but I am kind of overwhelmed on realizing that most of one of my favorite sets are cleaned. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
814 Posts |
It's all up to you. You learned an important lesson. If I were in your shoes, I'd hold out until silver goes back up, keep a few choice ones as pocket pieces, and trade the rest in toward better coins.
Edited by hcmusicguy
12/23/2014 5:03 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7618 Posts |
Keep the coins you bought as a reminder. Also, the coins may be something you want to share with your children someday. The stories behind the purchaces that you and their Grandfather made will be priceless.
Just start another Dansco set and move on.
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Moderator
 United States
23522 Posts |
You've already been through them for VAMs, right? Satisfy yourself. If you're happier turning that value into different coins down the road, by all means do so. You are the only one who can define your collection.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1748 Posts |
Replace them in the Dansco slowly with nice patina circulated coins. I have been eliminating dipped Morgan dollars from my collection and only have 2-3 left to replace. It won't cost you very much and the collection will look a lot better. If you can't bear to part with the cleaned ones, just keep them. Edited by DoubleEagle20
12/23/2014 5:15 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2661 Posts |
Quote:
Should I keep the less-bad cleaned ones or should I sell the all of them for the silver value when that hikes up? You may be waiting a long time for that to happen so the choice is yours. If it were me I would just put them into 2x2's and let them ride. |
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New Member
United States
5 Posts |
Keep 1 for the reminder and the story to share someday, trade the rest for value when silver goes back up and start rebuilding.
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Moderator
United States
23522 Posts |
Yeah, even if you liquidate, keep one of the higher-grade cleaned ones as a pocket piece. If it starts Uncirculated, by the time it's EF45-AU50 it won't be cleaned any more.  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
8137 Posts |
I would sell them to buy uncleaned ones in better grades.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1839 Posts |
I think it comes down to how you feel about the coins when you look at them. Since you've just now come to the realization that they are mostly cleaned you might want to wait a little bit for the "shock value" to wear off. And after that think about how they make you feel. You mention that it's been one of your favorite sets. If most have been cleaned then it's true that it probably doesn't hold as much financial value as you may have thought but perhaps it will still hold a lot of sentimental value. If so that value won't be replaced by selling them at melt.
On the other hand if after the shock wears off you still feel upset when you look at them then perhaps it would be best sell them and start from scratch. There's a silver lining if you take this approach. Although we all usually imagine how great it will be when we complete a set, I think it's actually the journey towards that goal that brings the most enjoyment. You'll now have plenty to look forward to. Since you're young perhaps you could really take your time and try to make each peace you put in this set be something really special. It may take a while, but all the better.
Whichever you choose I don't think you can really go wrong.
Good luck
Edited by Tbone
12/23/2014 9:10 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1208 Posts |
Ah, it's not a big deal. That's why these were in the "bargain bin".
You learned something, and you'll learn lots more.
Just leave them in your albums, and only take them out when you upgrade
that album hole to an 'honest', problem free circulated coin. Keep the
silver you pull out until silver value goes back up one day. Culls
and problem coins will only increase in value with silver, so hang on
to it to get the best returns.
Keep it up, and one day you won't even remember when your albums were
full of whizzed coins, and you'll be slowly replacing all those circulated
Morgans with uncirculated upgrades!
Good luck!
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Rest in Peace
United States
7075 Posts |
I imagine your feeling like you got sucker punched, but I have to agree with westernsky. The time you spent searching for those coins with your father is priceless.
Don't beat yourself up for not knowing about harshly cleaned coins. You have decades of collecting ahead of you.
Just think about how much it will mean to your father when you decide to keep them.
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
1388 Posts |
Thanks for the input, everyone. I took another look and realized that fewer than I thought are cleaned!  They'll stay where they are for the time being and I'll replace them on an individual basis. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
898 Posts |
I bought some Washington quarters from a guy and it was a bulk lot. All but two were nice original pieces. Those two were blast white and cleaned, so I learned this too. The shiniest isn't always the best. Hopefully you move on and it gets better for you. I'd try to wait for silver to go up. |
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Valued Member
United States
415 Posts |
How much were you paying for each of them? Morgans will sell for a premium above silver value regardless of their past. Can you list for me, the dates and mint marks of the cleaned coins? If you post some pictures as well, you can get some tips on what to look for and perhaps how they were cleaned. It can be done many different way...
If it were me, I would certainly keep them just because of the memories with your dad. However if you feel no other way but to part with them, I think you will realize the problem isn't as big as it seeems. Certainly sucks feeling that way during such a joyful time of year. If I can help, I will. List your date/MM's and Ill swap you some originals.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1158 Posts |
If you got them out of the junk bin, then you paid junk prices. That's what you'd expect a cleaned coin to go for. So if you liked the coins, I don't see an issue. It's not like you paid MS-63 prices and just found out they are XF-Details.
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Replies: 17 / Views: 2,692 |
Posted 12/23/2014 4:33 pm
